Alpine Art and Culture

As a natural gateway to access the rest of Europe, Susa Valley has witnessed important historic moments over the centuries and has been the custodian of a vast legacy of alpine art and culture which, together with its natural beauty, has rendered it a unique area.

Its archeological sites, which can be identified because significant remnants have been conserved over the centuries, underscore the extraordinary features of Susa Valley: from prehistoric to modern times; a succession of civilizations and cultures.

The legacy of sacred art is interwoven in a territory with towering mountains and deep and pronounced chasms swathed in thick forests; these characteristics have forever inspired human beings in their relationship with the divine.

Due to its numerous mountain passes, Susa Valley has been important strategically which explains the widespread and very visible presence of fortifications throughout the area. There is an historical legacy of military architecture from the Middle Ages to the last World War within a substantially homogenous context, with characteristics that are unique both architecturally speaking as well as on a purely aesthetic level.

Culture tells the story of men and women who have lived, and continue to live, in the Valley, working and interacting with the mountains, creating opportunities to live off the land at the valley base as well as on the challenging and steep mountain slopes. The multiple linguistic traces, which are evident in various forms though Italianized today, are a testament to the vibrancy of the human presence in this area and have had a strong transalpine influence, producing high-quality food and wine traditions or “enogastronomia”.